Following up on
yesterdays column by Boston Globe writer Brian McGrory, Santorum sticks to his explanantion for the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal:
The Liberals Did It
WASHINGTON -- Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, refused yesterday to back off on his earlier statements connecting Boston's ''liberalism" with the Roman Catholic Church pedophile scandal, saying that the city's ''sexual license" and ''sexual freedom" nurtured an environment where sexual abuse would occur.
''The basic liberal attitude in that area . . . has an impact on people's behavior," Santorum said in an interview yesterday at the Capitol.
''If you have a world view that I'm describing [about Boston] . . . that affirms alternative views of sexuality, that can lead to a lot of people taking it the wrong way," Santorum said.
More...
US Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, called Santorum ''a jerk" and pointed out that the senator tried to use the levers of the federal government to block the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, an act that Santorum likened to ''execution." An autopsy found that Schiavo's brain was half the normal size and that she could not see anything.
''This is one of those people who claims to have had eye contact with a blind woman," Frank said.
Representative Martin T. Meehan, Democrat of Lowell, said, ''There's not much you can say about someone who claims to have read the Bible cover to cover and came away from it thinking it encourages hatred for fellow human beings."
David Wade, spokesman for Senator John F. Kerry, said, ''Sometimes you wonder whether Rick Santorum can possibly believe the radically wrong words that escape his mouth."
Wow, you know, I've read plenty of crazy things that have popped out of Santorums wretched mouth, but I have never wondered if he believes them. I'm sure he does. The fact of the matter is, Santorum has a diseased mind, one that fits well into the current manner in which Republicans approach the world. That is: Nothing is my fault, nothing can be blamed on the flaws of conservatives or their institutions. When a conservative institution has a scandal, the only explanation can be that it has been infiltrated by Liberals.
Mr. Santorum, the fact that you, a supposed devout Catholic has not had the strength or wisdom to investigate the true nature and cause of the Catholic Abuse Scandal, makes me fear for the future of Catholic children around the world. For if you, one of the most prominent Catholic politicians of our day have not been able to understand the nature of the problem, means that the leadership of your religion has not dealt with the problem and that another scandal is probably brewing RIGHT NOW.
When in 10 or 15 years, hundreds of more abused people come forward, remarks like yours will be the evidence that damns your beloved Church into oblivion. Remarks like your will be the evidence to the people that the Church was never serious about solving its problems. The only thing it and you were serious about were casting blame and playing victim.
You are not the victim, Mr. Santorum. You sir, are the enabler.